Porto

October 6,7,8

Hello - hic! - from Oporto, home to the wonderful port industry. As a long-time port, muscat and tokay drinker I felt the need to get in touch with my spiritual side. I wasn't disappointed! Fabulous booze, so much to sample, such little time. And we had a driver, too. Can heartily recommend it to any prospective travellers.

The strange part about this part of the country is its strong British connection. The port wine was a British development, solving the difficult problem of how to get good wine across the channel without it going off (after the French decided not to sell to the poms any more). Simply add copious quantities of "brandy", in actual fact rocket fuel, a bit like grappa, 70% alcohol and it gets better with age as well as travelling well. So now the port here is full of English -sounding names like Grants and Taylor's. Are the portugese the only Europeans who are friendly with England? They are the only ones we have come across.
We also had a couple of days in Coimbra, a lovely university town, again set on top of a hill. (Oh, my aching knees!) the students wear black, with a gown, while attending classes. It was like graduation day every day. A feature here is an old nunnery which was built on low ground, very unusual for them, and which promptly started to fill up with water from a nearby river. Their solution was prayer, with limited success, and building extra levels just above the rising water, which kept the girls dry until the last one died in the 18th century. They had a new one built up the hill subsequently, which is now full of silent, chaste and dentally-challenged sisters (they are famous for their pastries, on which they apparently do a lot of product testing, albeit silently).
Tomorrow, back to Spain!
 

Lisbon & Coimbra

October 2, 3,4,5

Time for an update- it's been a while! Evora to Lisbon via the A2- 120km/h most of the way, when Rhonda wasn't looking. It's one of many toll roads that I wanted to avoid, but in the end I relented in order to cross the mighty Lisbon bridge, a 3 or 4 kilometre engineering marvel. It, together with the Christ statue (like Rio's) dominate the skyline of the city. 
We had a cosy little apartment in Belem, a trendy area on the water with lots of cafés, bakeries and of course castles and monasteries! But the real highlights were to ride the #28 tram through the Lisbon hills, around impossibly sharp corners and coming across breathtaking views on the way, and to finally swim in the Atlantic! My bucket list is getting shorter, only the Indian and Arctic to go. I'm counting Bass Strait as the Southern ocean, by the way.

 Now we find ourselves in Coimbra, (quimbra) a university town about 200 kms north of Lisbon. It is reputedly the second oldest university in Europe after Padua, although this is hotly debated! The students here wear black robes all the time, and possibly still speak in Latin. I'll ask one tomorrow about the state of Caesar's health, as that is all I can remember from school. Interestingly, it seems they avoided the big earthquake here (1755 if you have been paying attention) and put it down to their enthusiastic efforts in the inquisition , whereas certain other places felt the wrath of the almighty for some shoddy work in that department.
Adeeoosh!

Evora

September 30/ October 1
Bona dia!
Evora is a very interesting town. Our hotel is a former bull-ring, we are told, and there are more students here than tourists for a change! Our cafe of choice is a vegetarian establishment where you pay by the weight of the food you have chosen. I had a meringue and a fairy cake! I am pleased to report that the midriff situation is as forecast- no muffin-tops here. Roman influence is very

strong here, notably including an aqueduct carrying water from kilometres away.

Had a short trip to another hillside village/fortified castle today. Monsaraz was a medieval castle, fought over variously by the Moors and the Christians, and given as a thank you gift to the Knights Templar. Dan Brown, eat your heart out! It looks out on the (apparently) largest reservoir in Europe. It is hard to know if these facts are true, we just nod wisely and move on. It is certainly the biggest body of water we have seen in Europe. The area also features many megaliths from the Stone Age. We had to check them out- a little underwhelming, to be honest!
Off to Lisbon tomorrow.

Tavira

Ola, mi amigos! If you can notice a change in my accent it's because we are now in Portugal, home of nandos chicken and piri piri sauce. The experts say that while the Spanish are proud and passionate (like Hawthorn supporters), the Portuguese are melancholy and morose (like Bulldogs supporters). They once ruled the seas, they discovered much of the new world- then they lost it all. The massive Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 was the sealer. Still it's a very interesting country, not unlike the Australian bush in some parts, especially where the roads are lined with gum trees as far as the eye can see. One photo from today has a stand of eucalypts next to an old windmill! Don Quixote meets Ned Kelly.
The south, the Algarve, is a collection of beach towns of varying types. The one we went to today was a cross between Torquay and Philip Island. Things are very quiet now, but in July and August the place is crazy, apparently.

We travel to Evora next - a university town with some historical buildings, including the obligatory Roman temple (which until recently was the town slaughterhouse!) It's come up alright for the tourists, though. It's also the town of bare midriffs, which makes for a refreshing change. I may bare mine tomorrow!
Obrigado, hombres.

Sevilla

September 26-28

Seville is in shock- people are wandering the streets, shaking their heads and muttering something about football tragedies. What a thoughtful bunch, I thought, to take such interest in what must be for them only their 2nd or 3rd favourite sport. But imagine my horror when I realised they cared not for my Swans, but merely a parochial love of some minor Spanish soccer team! They say that travel opens your eyes, I am beginning to see the truth in this.

AFL aside (and I did not see or hear a minute of the shemozzle), we are enjoying Sevilla, Spain's 4th largest city and home to both the Alcazar and the 3rd largest cathedral in the world, behind Rome and Canterbury. The streets are wide (mostly), the weather is fair and the streets are safe, except for the dog turds. We did a city tour this morning, her indoors is now sleeping it off before we go for some tapas tonight.
Before we left our mountain idyll, we looked in an old olive oil press from the 1800s, now set up as a museum. Better than all your fancy cathedrals and such, I reckon. I've included a couple of pics.
Lo siento, Goodesy and the lads, I did what I could but it still wasn't enough!

Benalauria

Sept 23- 25


We are in another hilltop village, similar to Frigiliana, but in so many ways very different. Benalauria is a small village of 300 (mostly farmers we think), and couldn't be further away from the tourist centres if it tried. They grow olives, walnuts, grapes and citrus, and farm sheep and goats. They also have some of the best cork forest remaining in Europe. I think the b & b we are staying in is the only accomodation in town! We certainly get some odd looks from the locals, who can't work out if we are English or American.
Living here is very cheap. Tonight we had a 2 course meal ( which was delicious) with beer, wine, sangria and coffee for 14 euro ($20 roughly). If they had AFL on the telly I could stay here indefinitely!
We went to Gibraltar today, it's just down the road from here. An incredible geological and historical place, but what a mess they have made of it. The only purpose of The Rock is to get as much cash from your pocket as possible. We bought breakfast from a cockney waitress (hello love, can I get you sumfing to eat?) and a book for Rhonda and finished up with a visit to the museum, an almost empty treasure house of Gibraltar's history, including a Neanderthal skull, an Egyptian mummy that washed up on the beach one day, and Lord Horatio Nelson's handkerchief. I can only give the island 2 stars, very disappointing.
The other photos today are from Ronda, just north of here. It was after seeing some brilliant photos of the hotel perched on the edge of a gorge that we started to seriously think about travelling to Europe again. The gorge features in Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, chapter 10 if you are interested (but not for the kiddies!) We found it very crowded, and to top it off the long-awaited rain began!
Easy day tomorrow, I plan to swim in a mountain pool, and visit the only tourist attraction in town, an old olive oil museum.
Adios, mi amigos!

Cordoba

September 21/22

Cordoba, once the most populous city in the western world, and the "light of the 3 cultures". Yes, for over 500 years the gentle folk here lived peacefully as Jews, Christians and Muslims in a homogeneous society- we could all learn a lot from their story. Eventually it ended in tears (and worse during the Inquisition), but the legacy lives on. The old Mosque (the Mezquite) still stands, albeit with a Christian cathedral in its centre. The Christian conquerors, not normally known for their tolerance, allowed the magnificent building to remain (albeit with some tasteful additions in the middle).

Today we wandered through this 1200 year-old marvel, 

feeling a bit more positive about the world. The rest of the town is a mix of the 3 cultures, much of it hidden down impossibly narrow lanes and behind huge old wooden doors. The pictures show a little of this.

It's a great town, very safe and friendly, full of cultured and proud citizens!
Here endeth the sermon for today.
PS very good brownlow result- sorry sutts and the tigers! Glad the selwood/ablett scenario didn't pan out. Get a bet on Parker in 2016!

Frigiliana

September 19/20

I write today high on a hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean from a restaurant in Frigiliana. For music buffs, refer to Christy Moore's song 'Lisdoonvarna', it's partly why I chose this place. As you can see from the pics, it's a picture-perfect hilltop village of about 2500 people, most of whom are British! For those of you into shades of white (not Grey!!), this is Mecca.
We have spent our time here either wandering the town with its many ups and downs, or down the hill at Nerja (pronounced Nuckar) again trying to avert our gaze from aged saggy bosoms!
The only downside is the absence of good wifi, it took hours before I learnt of the swans win, surprisingly it has not rated a mention here. I guess they are saving it for the gf.
Off to cordoba in the morn.

Granada Pt 2

September 18
A much quieter day today, after yesterday's exertions. Slept in till 9!, then had Skype calls from the kids before heading out for a late breakfast. Grand kids have all aged about a month, and we have only been gone for little more than a week! Elka is walking, Arch is a foot taller, you can't leave them for a minute. Finley thinks he might come to Spain on the weekend, or perhaps we could drop in on him.

We spent the day walking round the Albaizin, the old area of Granada. It is narrow lanes, cobbled streets, unexpected squares everywhere, cafés, restaurants, bakeries, full of lost tourists clutching maps and wondering if they will get out alive.
There is also a strong moorish/gypsy element here as well- I feel a bit like I'm back at Monash in the 70s with all these hippies wandering around under the influence of who knows what! It's a lot of fun, though, and crime doesn't seem to be an issue.
Off the beach and Frigiliana in the morning.
Go the Swannies!


PS incredible sunset tonight, while being serenaded by our Boy Band.

Granada Pt 1

September 17
We have only had a brief taste of Granada, but you must admit it is very moorish! (Sorry, a dad joke there!) We got my new emergency passport, together with a few well-chosen words about what will happen if I lose this one, then took possession of a seat diesel, made in Spain, and hot-footed it down south to this beautiful city, dominated as it is by the Alhambra - more on this one tomorrow.
The gps worked well, thanks jenny and Phil , except that the pre-arranged meeting spot didn't quite work out. Our b&b host had to come and find us! Oh well, that's what happens when you take bookings from Aussies.
Big day tomorrow, Rhonda wants to get up at 6.30 to buy tickets!

 (Next day...)
Up at 6.15, reach the Alhambra in the dark at 6.45, 20 people already in the queue! Did they camp overnight? Nevertheless, mission accomplished , entry gained in the time-honoured way. We met a couple from Sydney, he was a recently retired teacher using up the last of his long service leave, so we chatted with them for the hour or so we had to wait, swapping battle stories from our travels. They were spending 8 weeks getting all around Europe staying mostly in youth hostels- not for us, we thought to ourselves! 
The Alhambra was magnificent, everything it is purported to be, and more. Definitely to be put on the bucket list.
The photos do most of the talking, but the one thing that got me is how they been able to get water to this site on the top of a hill, a feat they have been achieving since the 900s. Incredible.